Memorial  Sketch  of 

Dr.  William  Frederick  Poole, 

1821 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


With  the  Compliments  of  the   Trustees 
the  Newberry  Library. 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


Memorial  Sfcetcb  of  Dr. 

William  ff reOer  f  ch  poole : 

from  tbe  minuted  of  tbe 

JBoaro  of  trustees  of 

tbe  Dewberry  2Lt= 

brarg,  Cbicago 


/Ifoemorfal  Sketch 

of 

Dr.  Militant  f  refcericfc  J>oole 


Cbfcaao:  mocccjcv 


.  WILLIAM  FREDERICK 
POOLE  was  born  in  Salem, 
Massachusetts,  on  the  24th 
day  of  December,  1821.  He  was  a 
lineal  descendant,  in  the  eighth 
generation,  from  John  Poole,  an 
English  emigrant,  who  settled  in 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  then 
known  as  Newtown,  in  1632.  Dr. 
Poole  attended  the  common 
schools  in  Salem  until  twelve 
years  of  age,  and  thus  acquired 
a  fair  knowledge  of  English 
branches,  and  had  also,  by  study 
at  home  outside  of  his  work  in 
school,  acquired  a  limited  knowl- 
edge of  the  Latin  grammar  and 
higher  mathematics.  His  plan  of 
securing  a  college  education  at 
first  seemed  impracticable,  from 
financial  difficulties,  but  at  the 
age  of  eighteen  years,  the  way 

seemed 


742 


2    TKUUtam  f  refcericfc  poole. 

seemed  clear,  and  he  entered  the 
academy  at  Leicester.  He  re- 
mained at  this  academy  for  three 
years,  during  a  part  of  which  time 
he  was  one  of  the  teachers,  and 
in  i842,  being  sufficiently  prepared, 
he  entered  the  freshman  class  at 
Yale  College.  He  was,  however, 
disappointed  in  his  arrangements 
in  regard  to  his  college  expenses, 
and  at  the  end  of  his  freshman 
year,  left  college  and  engaged  in 
teaching,  which  pursuit  he  fol- 
lowed for  three  years,  after  which 
he  returned  to  college  and  entered 
the  class  of  1849,  as  a  sophomore, 
and  was  duly  graduated,  with 
high  honors.  Among  his  class- 
mates were  President  Timothy 
Dwight,  of  Yale  College,  and 
President  Franklin  Fisk,  of  Chi- 
cago Theological  Seminary,  with 
whom  he  maintained  a  life-long 
friendship.  Near  the  close  of  his 
sophomore  year,  he  was  chosen 
for  the  position  of  assistant  libra- 
rian of 


TffliUUam  jfre&edcfc  poole,    3 

rian  of  the  Society  of  Brothers  of 
Unity,  connected  with  which  So- 
ciety was  a  library  of  about  ten 
thousand  volumes.  A  consider- 
able part  of  this  library  consisted 
of  bound  volumes,  and,  in  many 
cases,  of  complete  sets  of  the  lead- 
ing foreign  quarterlies  and  maga- 
zines, and  of  the  best  American 
periodicals.  At  this  time  it  was 
customary,  in  the  college,  for  the 
topics  for  essays  and  other  literary 
work  to  be  announced  from  time 
to  time  in  the  college  chapel,  and 
Dr.  Poole,  in  answer  to  an  urgent 
demand  for  such  information, 
presently  commenced  to  post  in 
the  library,  in  connection  with 
each  of  the  topics  thus  announced, 
a  list  of  the  books  in  the  library 
relating  to  such  topics,  and  also  a 
list  of  the  articles  in  the  various 
reviews  and  magazines  which 
would  be  useful  in  the  preparation 
of  essays  upon  the  topics  an- 
nounced. This  proved  to  be  of 

such 


4    William  jfrefcericfe  poole. 

such  value  to  the  students,  that 
he  decided  to  compile  an  index  of 
the  contents  of  all  the  periodicals 
in  the  library— a  work  which  had 
not  been  before  attempted,  and 
which  index  was  published  during 
his  junior  year,  making  a  modest 
octavo  volume  of  154  pages.  A 
second  edition  was  soon  called  for, 
and  as  the  work  seemed  to  have 
met  a  popular  demand,  he  decided 
to  enlarge  it,  and  during  his  senior 
year  and  a  part  of  the  year  follow- 
ing his  graduation  from  college, 
he  prepared  a  new  edition  of  the 
index,  embracing  a  large  number 
of  periodicals  not  included  in  the 
previous  edition,  making  a  volume 
of  something  over  five  hundred 
pages,  which  was  published  in 
1853.  Periodical  literature  to  that 
time  had  been  much  less  volumi- 
nous than  at  present,  and  was 
also  largely  of  a  high  character— 
the  most  eminent  literary  and 
scientific  men  of  the  old  world 

being, 


William  ffre&ericfe  poole.    5 

being,  as  a  rule,  contributors  to 
the  well-known  quarterlies  of  the 
period.  The  modest  volumes,  to 
which  allusion  has  been  made, 
demonstrated  the  need  of  a  wider 
and  more  comprehensive  work, 
and  the  result  was,  in  later  years, 
the  volume  known,  as  had  been 
the  preceding  editions,  as  "Poole's 
Index  to  Periodical  Literature," 
which  made  its  name  a  house- 
hold word  in  every  library,  as  well 
as  in  the  home  of  a  great  part  of 
the  men  of  letters  of  the  whole 
civilized  world. 

present  age  has  been 
one  of  remarkable  progress, 
especially  in  every  department 
of  scientific  research,  and  the 
method  by  which  investigators 
make  known  to  the  world  the 
progress  of  their  work,  by  reason 
of  this  fact,  has  changed.  In- 
stead of  spending  many  years,  as 
formerly,  in  the  preparation  of  a 
carefully  elaborated  volume,  show- 
ing the 


6    Milliam  ffrefcericfe  poole. 

ing  the  results  of  years  of  re- 
search, the  investigator  now  feels 
apprehensive  lest  some  co-worker 
in  the  same  field  may  anticipate 
his  discoveries,  and,  therefore,  so 
soon  as  he  has  material  sufficient 
for  a  good  magazine  article,  it  is 
usually  published  in  this  method, 
and  when  a  sufficient  number  of 
such  contributions  have  been 
made,  the  author  collects  them 
and  publishes  a  volume.  Periodi- 
cal literature,  too,  has  enormously 
increased  in  volume,  and  the  valu- 
able periodicals  are  today  more 
than  one  thousand  in  number. 
For  the  reason  just  indicated  the 
freshest  results  of  research  in  al- 
most every  department  of  human 
knowledge  are  found  in  the  pages 
of  the  various  periodicals,  and, 
inasmuch  as  no  person  has  time 
or  opportunity  to  read  all  of  these 
periodicals,  an  index  of  their  con- 
tents, which  shall  render  them 
available  to  the  student  in  any 

field 


William  jfrefcericfc  poole,    7 

field  of  work,  is  indispensable,  and 
Dr.  Poole's  early  and  almost  boy- 
ish training  in  this  work  seemed 
to  indicate  him  as  the  person 
especially  fitted  for  carrying  it 
forward.  The  result  was  the 
publication,  in  1882,  of  the  "Index 
to  Periodical  Literature,"  a  royal 
octavo  of  fourteen  hundred  and 
sixty-nine  pages,  which  repre- 
sented the  work  of  all  his  spare 
moments  for  many  years.  In  this 
work  he  was  largely  assisted  by 
Mr.  William  I.  Fletcher,  Librarian 
of  Amherst  College,  who  was  as- 
sociate editor  of  the  work,  and 
several  librarians  of  the  great 
English  and  American  libraries 
were  also  called  upon  to  assist  in 
the  work  and  to  index  several  of 
the  periodicals.  Dr.  Poole,  how- 
ever, had  the  final  supervision  of 
everything  connected  with  this 
great  work,  and  himself  examined 
and  corrected  the  proof  sheets  of 
every  page  of  the  Index.  Five 

years 


8    MUlfam  jfrefcertcfe  poole. 

years  after  the  publication  of  the 
first  edition,  a  supplement  was 
issued,  bringing  the  work  down 
to  1888,  and  a  second  supplement, 
largely  the  work  of  Mr.  Fletcher, 
appeared  in  1893. 

7T\R-  POOLE'S  work  in  the 
Zl/  library  of  the  College  Soci- 
ety, which  has  already  been  re- 
ferred to,  and  the  publication  of 
the  two  editions  of  the  Index,  had 
made  him  well  and  favorably 
known  in  connection  with  library 
work,  so  that,  soon  after  his  grad- 
uation in  1851,  he  was  chosen 
assistant  Librarian  of  the  Boston 
Athenaeum,  and  the  following 
year  was  appointed  Librarian  of 
the  Boston  Mercantile  Library, 
which  position  he  held  for  four 
years.  During  his  incumbency  of 
this  position,  he  prepared  a  cata- 
logue of  the  library,  upon  a  plan 
of  his  own,  which  was  largely 
followed  in  other  libraries,  and  is 
known  as  the  "Dictionary  Cata- 
logue." 


Miltiam  jfrefcerfcft  poole.    9 

logue."  In  this  catalogue,  the 
author's  name,  title  of  the  book, 
and  the  subjects,  were  arranged 
alphabetically,  each  entry  occupy- 
ing but  a  single  line.  The  Mer- 
cantile Library  at  this  time  con- 
tained about  sixteen  thousand 
volumes.  In  1856,  he  resigned 
the  position  of  Librarian  of  the 
Mercantile  Library  to  accept  a 
like  position  in  the  Library  of 
the  Boston  Athenaeum,  where 
he  remained  for  thirteen  years, 
until  January,  1869.  Dr«  Poole 
always  referred  to  this  period  of 
his  life  as  being  especially  filled 
with  delightful  memories.  He 
was  brought  in  contact  with  the 
most  cultivated  literary  society 
of  America.  The  men  who  were 
the  principal  contributors:  to  the 
"Atlantic  Monthly,"  in  its  early 
days,  and  to  the  "  North  American 
Review"  of  that  period,  among 
whom  were  Longfellow,  Emerson, 
Lowell,  Holmes,  Ticknor,  Charles 

Francis 


io   William  Jfrefcericfe  poole. 

Francis  Adams  and  Parkman,  as 
well  as  many  of  the  younger 
writers,  as  Henry  James,  T.  B. 
Aldrich,  W.  D.  Howells  and 
others,  were  his  almost  daily 
associates.  The  principal  writers 
for  the  periodical  literature  of  this 
day  frequented  the  library  of  the 
Boston  Athenaeum,  and  Dr.  Poole 
always  made  special  effort  to  pro- 
cure for  the  library  everything 
which  would  be  useful  to  them  in 
their  literary  work,  and,  by  meet- 
ing them  in  constant  friendly  and 
literary  intercourse,  established 
personal  relations  and  friendships 
with  all  the  people  who  made 
illustrious  this  particular  period 
of  American  literature,  friend- 
ships which  lasted  during  the 
lives  of  all  these  most  interesting 
people. 

•^'HE  first  example  of  what  is 
\+,  known  as  the  "  Dictionary 
Catalogue,"  carried  out  in  a 
comprehensive  method,  was  Dr. 

Poole's 


William  jfre&ericfe  poole.    u 

Poole's  catalogue,  before  referred 
to,  of  the  Boston  Mercantile 
Library.  Before  that  time  books 
had  been  usually  catalogued  under 
various  systems  of  classification, 
the  volumes  being  grouped  from 
their  general  subjects,  as  histori- 
cal, theological,  medical,  literary, 
etc.  No  two  persons  would,  of 
course,  ever  agree  in  the  systems 
of  classification,  so  that  no  cata- 
logue made  upon  that  plan  would 
be  satisfactory  to  all  classes  of 
readers.  The  method  originated 
by  Dr.  Poole  was  at  once  much 
more  simple,  as  well  as  more  sat- 
isfactory. The  books  were  cata- 
logued alphabetically,  as  to  the 
name  of  the  author,  title  of  book, 
and  the  subject  or  subjects  treated 
in  the  volumes,  and  this  method, 
modified  and  enlarged  as  subse- 
quent experience  dictated,  includ- 
ing careful  systems  of  cross-ref- 
erences, is  now  in  universal  use, 
and  is  the  only  method  by  which 

the 


12    TOlliam  Jfrefcertch  poole. 

the  riches  of  a  great  library  can 
be  made  immediately  available  to 
students,  as  not  only  all  the  vol- 
umes on  a  special  subject,  but  all 
portions  of  volumes  wherein  the 
same  subject  is  discussed,  appear 
in  the  catalogue  under  the  subject 
heading. 

HFTER  leaving  the  position  of 
librarian  of  the  Boston  Athe- 
naeum, Dr.  Poole  worked  for  sev- 
eral years  as  an  expert  in  the 
formation  and  building  up  of  libra- 
ries in  various  parts  of  the  coun- 
try. His  experience  in  library 
work  made  him  an  invaluable 
adviser  in  the  formation  of  city 
or  college  libraries.  He  could 
make  up  a  list  of  books  which 
would  be  most  desirable  and 
most  called  for  in  a  library  of  a 
few  thousand  volumes,  thus  giv- 
ing to  the  library  the  benefit  of 
his  wide  experience  and  saving 
it  from  the  mistakes  often  made 
in  the  purchase  of  books  for  a 

library 


William  jfrefcericfe  poole*    13 

library  by  those  unfamiliar  with 
the  work.  Among  the  libraries, 
in  regard  to  which  he  was  con- 
sulted in  this  way,  was  that  of 
Cincinnati,  and  a  considerable 
sum  of  money  having  become 
available  for  the  city  library,  he 
accepted  there  the  position  of 
Librarian,  organized  the  library 
to  a  high  standard  of  efficiency, 
and  continued  in  this  position 
until  he  was  called  to  a  similar 
work  in  Chicago,  soon  after  the 
great  fire.  His  work  in  Cincin- 
nati occupied  five  years,  and  his 
services  are  looked  upon  by  the 
people  of  that  city,  in  the  organ- 
izing and  planning  of  the  work 
of  the  library  along  lines  which 
have  since  been  followed,  as  per- 
manent and  invaluable.  Soon 
after  the  great  fire  in  Chicago,  an 
ordinance  was  adopted,  in  con- 
formity with  the  State  Law,  pro- 
viding a  tax  levy  for  each  year 
for  the  purpose  of  a  public  library, 

and 


i4   TKauiiam  ffrcfcericfe  ipoole. 

and  Dr.  Poole  was  selected  as  the 
man  most  eminently  qualified  for 
the  work  of  organizing  this 
library.  He  held  this  position  for 
about  thirteen  years,  and  until 
the  Chicago  Public  Library  had 
grown  from  nothing  to  a  collec- 
tion of  over  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  volumes.  This  library 
was  popular  in  its  character,  it 
being  one  of  Dr.  Poole's  most 
steadfast  opinions  that,  while  all 
immoral  books  should  be  ex- 
cluded, nearly  everything  outside 
of  this  line  should  be  provided  to 
meet  the  public  demand.  He  used 
to  say  that  it  was  much  better 
for  a  person  to  read  slush  and 
the  most  foolish  novels  rather 
than  not  to  read  at  all,  that  the 
reading  of  any  book  induced  the 
taste  for  farther  reading,  and  that 
the  people  who  commenced  by 
reading  the  most  worthless  books 
in  the  library  would  gradually 
have  their  taste  formed  for  higher 

work, 


Militant  ffre&ericfe  poole.    15 

work,  and  would  become  readers 
of  works  of  positive  value. 
*J[N  1887,  Dr.  Poole  resigned  the 
position  of  Librarian  of  the 
Chicago  Public  Library  to  accept 
the  same  position  in  the  New- 
berry  Library — the  fund  donated 
for  the  establishment  of  this 
library  by  Walter  L.  Newberry 
having  then  become  available.  It 
had  been  decided  to  make  this 
library  one  of  reference  simply,  in 
other  words,  a  library  for  scholars 
and  people  desiring  to  make  care- 
ful researches  in  standard  works 
for  their  own  mental  training,  or 
for  purposes  of  literary  work. 
This  was  a  task  much  more  to 
his  taste  than  anything  which  had 
come  to  him  in  his  previous  ex- 
perience, inasmuch  as  it  would 
ultimately  bring  him  in  contact 
largely  with  educators  and  liter- 
ary workers.  This  position  he 
held  until  the  time  of  his  death, 
in  March,  1894,  at  which  time  the 

library 


16   "roiliam  jfrefcerfcfe  poole. 

library  had  on  its  shelves  about 
one  hundred  thousand  volumes  of 
carefully  selected  works  of  value 
and  importance  to  students  and 
workers  in  nearly  every  field  of 
intellectual  effort. 

HNY  memoir  of  the  life  and 
work  of  Dr.  Poole  would  be 
most  inadequate  which  did  not 
make  full  mention  of  his  own  lit- 
erary work.  He  was  descended 
from  a  line  of  Puritan  ancestors, 
and  still  preserved  in  his  own 
character  the  most  valuable  traits 
of  those  antique  heroes  of  our 
commonwealth.  The  narrowness 
of  some  of  the  earlier  Puritans 
had  passed  away  in  the  process 
of  time,  leaving  permanent,  how- 
ever, the  high  regard  for  all  that 
was  best  in  the  work  of  the 
Church  and  State.  One  of  the 
publications  which  first  brought 
the  literary  work  of  Dr.  Poole 
prominently  before  the  public  was 
his  essay,  afterwards  enlarged,  in 

regard 


William  jfrefcericfc  jpoole.    17 

regard  to  the  connection  of  Dr. 
Cotton  Mather  with  the  prosecu- 
tion of  supposed  witches  in  Salem, 
Massachusetts.  Salem  being  Dr. 
Poole's  birth  place,  he  made  him- 
self thoroughly  familiar  with 
everything  available  regarding 
its  early  history.  Some  writer, 
upon  insufficient  examination,  had 
made  the  statement  that  Dr. 
Mather  originated  the  prosecution 
of  various  people  for  witchcraft, 
such  prosecutions  being  in  many 
cases  followed  by  the  death  of 
the  alleged  criminal.  This  dic- 
tum, not  having  been  questioned, 
had  passed  into  common  belief, 
and  various  historical  writers 
upon  the  early  period  of  New 
England  had  stated  this  as  an 
unquestioned  fact.  Dr.  Poole's 
examination  of  the  history  of 
Salem  satisfied  him  that  these 
statements  were  absolutely  erro- 
neous, and  his  papers  upon  the 
subject  have  entirely  reversed  the 

previous 


i8   William  jfrefcericfe  poole. 

previous  findings  of  local  history 
upon  this  point.  Another  of  the 
valuable  contributions  to  Ameri- 
can History  was  made  by  Dr. 
Poole,  while  Librarian  at  Cincin- 
nati, in  a  paper  showing  the  real 
origin  of  the  famous  ordinance  of 
1787,  by  which  slavery  was  finally 
excluded  from  the  northwestern 
territory.  After  the  agitation  of 
the  slavery  question  had  become 
one  of  the  leading  features  in 
American  politics,  great  credit 
had  been  given  to  certain  mem- 
bers of  congress  for  the  introduc- 
tion and  passage  of  this  famous 
ordinance,  and  their  foresight,  sa- 
gacity and  anti-slavery  proclivi- 
ties were  most  highly  commended 
by  anti-slavery  supporters  and 
writers.  Dr.  Poole's  researches 
made  clear  the  fact  that  the  ordi- 
nance of  1787,  so  far  as  its  special 
promoters  and  the  members  of 
congress  were  concerned,  had  no 
underlying  moral  purpose,  but 

was 


William  jfrefcericfc  jpoole.    19 

was  purely  a  matter  of  business. 
Vast  tracts  of  land  in  Ohio  had 
been  taken  up,  under  the  provi- 
sions of  a  law  passed  soon  after 
the  revolutionary  war,  allowing 
the  holders  of  the  badly  depre- 
ciated government  currency  and 
securities  to  purchase  land  there- 
with. The  owners  of  this  land 
were  anxious  to  induce  settlers  to 
go  upon  it,  and  as  the  class  of 
settlers  they  were  endeavoring  to 
influence  were  almost  entirely 
from  New  England,  and  were 
opponents  of  slavery,  the  owners 
of  the  land  felt  that,  could  it  be 
absolutely  determined  that  the 
great  Northwest  would  be  free 
from  slavery,  it  would  be  much 
less  difficult  to  induce  colonies 
from  New  England  to  purchase 
land.  The  moral  and  humane 
side  of  this  great  ordinance  is, 
therefore,  to  be  credited  solely  to 
the  people  of  New  England,  the 
expected  settlers  of  the  great 

Northwest, 


20    limillfam  jfrefcerfcfc  poole. 

Northwest,  whose  views  on  the 
question  of  slavery  had  thus  early 
taken  form,  and  in  deference  to 
which  views  the  famous  law  was 
enacted. 

:.  POOLE  found,  in  Marietta, 
Ohio,  the  diary  of  Dr.  Ma- 
nasseh  Cutler,  who  had  been  the 
agent  of  the  New  England  land 
companies,  and  had  spent  a  winter 
in  Washington  to  secure  the  pas- 
sage of  the  ordinance  of  1787,  in 
which  diary  the  object  of  such 
ordinance  as  aiding  in  the  sale  of 
land,  and  the  settlement  of  the 
western  country,  is  constantly 
adverted  to.  Lobbying  in  those 
days  would  seem,  from  the  ex- 
tracts given  by  Dr.  Poole  from 
this  diary,  to  be  a  much  less  ex- 
pensive process  than  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  the  good  Dr.  Cutler's 
method  being  simply  to  invite, 
from  time  to  time,  three  or  four 
members  of  congress  to  a  dinner 
at  his  boarding  house,  where  the 

matter 


Milliam  jfrefcericfc  poole,    21 

matter  would  be  discussed  over 
a  somewhat  more  elaborate  menu 
than  the  prevailing  simplicity  of 
diet  in  Washington.  Another  in- 
teresting feature  was  brought  out 
in  this  journal,  being  the  fact  that 
many  of  the  most  earnest  sup- 
porters of  the  ordinance  of  1787 
were  from  the  slave  -  holding 
states,  but  at  that  time  the  slave- 
holding  states  were  the  most 
wealthy  part  of  the  nation,  and 
the  representatives  of  those 
states,  looking  upon  the  national 
indebtedness  as  enormous  and  as 
a  menace  to  the  future  growth  of 
the  nation,  were  especially  anxious 
to  forward  any  measure  for  the 
reduction  of  the  public  debt,  and 
the  prospect  of  a  large  portion 
of  the  government  indebtedness 
being  used  in  the  purchase  of 
land  was  the  argument  which,  to 
the  southern  members  of  con- 
gress, had  special  weight. 

The 


22  TRdiiliam  Jfrefcericfe  poole. 

•TTHE  Puritan  proclivities  of  Dr. 
\1*  Poole,  to  which  allusion  has 
already  been  made,  resulted  in 
his  literary  work  being  largely 
confined  to  the  discussion  of  his- 
torical problems  connected  with 
the  settlement  of  New  England. 
He  wrote  many  admirable  reviews 
of  historical  works,  and  the  last 
article  from  his  pen,  published  in 
the  "Dial"  shortly  before  his 
death,  was  a  scathing  review  of 
a  historical  work  by  Charles 
Francis  Adams,  in  which  Dr. 
Poole  hotly  resented  certain  re- 
marks of  Mr.  Adams,  criticising 
the  work,  methods  and  character 
of  the  Puritan  Fathers.  A  care- 
ful and  accurate  bibliography  of 
the  contributions  of  Dr.  Poole  to 
various  magazines  and  critical 
journals  has  been  prepared  by 
his  intimate  friend,  Mr.  D.  L. 
Shorey,  and  is  annexed  to  this 
memoir. 

Outside 


William  jfre&ericfe  poole.    23 

(J)UTSIDE  the  work  of  Dr. 
^•^  Poole  in  historical  matters 
and  in  criticisms  of  historical 
work,  he  wrote  numerous  and 
valuable  papers  upon  the  subject 
of  library  management  and  li- 
brary construction.  His  position 
in  regard  to  library  buildings  for 
a  time  aroused  much  antagonism, 
although  ultimately  the  correct- 
ness of  his  views  has  been  gener- 
ally recognized,  and  the  newer 
library  buildings  are  largely 
modeled  upon  some  adaptation  of 
his  ideas.  The  early  method  of 
a  great  library  building  was  to 
have  the  interior  something  like 
the  nave  of  a  great  church,  with 
the  books  arranged  about  the 
wall  and  reached  by  staircases. 
Dr.  Poole  attacked  this  method 
upon  the  ground  that  it  was  a 
great  waste  of  room  ;  that  it  was 
extremely  inconvenient  to  reach 
the  books  ;  and  that  the  books  in 
the  upper  part  of  the  room  were 

injured 


24   IKailllam  jfre&ericfe  poole. 

injured  by  the  excessive  heat. 
The  building  occupied  by  the 
Newberry  Library  is  the  best  ex- 
emplification of  Dr.  Poole's  ideas 
of  library  construction.  This 
building  was  constructed  upon 
Dr.  Poole's  plans,  by  the  original 
trustees,  under  the  will  of  Mr. 
Newberry.  Heretofore  the  usual 
method  had  been  to  bring  the 
books  from  all  parts  of  the  library 
to  one  great  and  general  reading 
room.  His  idea  was  to  so  classify 
the  books  as  to  separate  them 
into  a  few  great  departments, 
each  of  which  would  have  its  own 
room,  and  to  have  tables  for  the 
use  of  readers  in  each  room,  and 
an  attendant,  who  would  in  time 
become  familiar  with  all  the  books 
in  that  special  department,  and 
would  thus  be  able  to  serve  the 
readers  with  promptness,  to  assist 
them  in  the  selection  of  books, 
and,  on  the  part  of  the  readers,  to 
make  the  room  more  quiet  and 

suitable 


THlUUam  jfrefcericfe  poole.    25 

suitable  for  work  than  were  they 
obliged  to  do  this  work  in  a  large 
room  used  by  all  the  readers  in 
the  library. 

?TNR.  POOLE'S  long  experience 
HJ  in  the  chosen  work  of  his  life 
had  given  him  an  almost  un- 
equalled familiarity  with  books 
and  enabled  him  to  point  out  to 
any  person  desiring  to  familiarize 
himself  with  any  special  subject 
the  books  best  adapted  for  his 
use.  He  was  the  Nestor  of  Amer- 
ican Librarians,  and  aided  all  the 
younger  members  in  the  work 
which  he  had  done  so  much  to 
raise  to  the  rank  of  one  of  the 
learned  professions,  and  to  whom 
he  was  always  most  courteous, 
friendly  and  helpful.  All  the  re- 
sults of  his  vast  experience  were 
placed  at  their  service,  and  his 
uniform  courtesy  and  kindness 
made  him  unnumbered  friends 
among  the  members  of  his  own 
profession.  In  all  parts  of  the 

country 


26   William  ffrefcericfe  poole. 

country,  where  public  libraries 
have  been  organized,  the  value  of 
his  services  can  be  seen  and 
appreciated,  although  the  two 
libraries,  which  will  be  for  him  his 
most  enduring  monuments,  are 
the  two  in  our  own  city,  where  he 
spent  the  last  nineteen  years  of  a 
long,  honorable  and  useful  life. 
*ffN  recognition  of  these  ser- 
vices, the  Board  of  Trustees 
of  the  Newberry  Library  direct 
that  this  brief  outline  of  his  inval- 
uable work  in  the  cause  of  educa- 
tion and  literature,  be  spread  in 
full  upon  the  minutes,  and  that  a 
copy  of  the  same  be  sent  to  his 
family. 


Publications  of 
WILLIAM  FREDERICK  POOLE. 


Dictionaries  in  the  Boston  Libraries. 
Springfield,  1856.  8vo.  8  pp. 

Websterian  Orthography;  a  Reply  to  Dr. 
Noah  Webster's  Calumniators.  Boston, 
1857.  8vo-  23  PP- 

The  Orthographical  Hobgoblin.  Spring- 
field, 1859.  8vo-  J4  PP- 

The  Popham  Colony;  a  Discussion  of  its 
Historical  Claims,  with  a  Bibliography 
of  the  Subject.  Boston,  1866.  8vo. 

72  PP- 

The  Wonder  -  Working  Providence  of 
Sion's  Saviour  in  New  England.  Lon- 
don, 1654,  by  Edward  Johnson,  reprinted, 
with  an  Historical  Introduction  by  W. 
F.  Poole  (154  pp.),  and  an  Index  (23  pp.) 
Andover,  1867.  4to.  419  pp. 

The  Popham  Colony.  North  American 
Review,  October,  1868.  Vol.  107,  pp. 
663-674. 

The  Mather  Papers ;  Cotton  Mather  and 
Salem  Witchcraft.  Boston  Daily  Ad- 
vertiser, Oct.  28,  1868. 

The  Same,  Privately  Printed,  Boston,  1868. 
Z2mo.  23  pp. 

Anne 


30          publications  of 

Anne  Bradstreet,  the  Early  New  England 
Poetess.  North  American  Review. 

1868.  Vol.  106,  pp.  330-334. 

Cotton    Mather    and     Salem    Witchcraft. 

North   American    Review,   April,    1869. 

Vol.  108,  pp.  337-397- 
The    Same,   Privately    Printed.      Boston, 

1869.  63  pp. 

Cotton  Mather  and  Witchcraft;  two 
Notices  of  Mr.  Upham,  his  Reply. 
Privately  Printed,  Boston,  1870.  I2mo. 
30  pp.  (From  Watchman  and  Reflector, 
Boston,  May  5,  1870,  and  Christian  Era, 
Boston,  April  23,  1870.) 

The  Witchcraft  Delusion  of  1692,  by  Gov. 
Thomas  Hutchinson,  from  an  unpub- 
lished MS.;  with  notes  by  Wm.  F. 
Poole.  New  England  Historical  and 
Genealogical  Register,  Oct.,  1870.  Vol. 
24,  pp.  381-414. 

The     Same,    Privately    Printed,    Boston, 

1870.  4to.     43  PP- 

Anti-Slavery  Opinions  before  the  year  1800. 
Cincinnati,  1872.  8vo.  102  pp. 

The  Tyler  Davidson  Fountain.  Cincin- 
nati, 1872.  8vo.  n8pp. 

The  Same,  Illustrated.  Cincinnati,  1872. 
Roy.  4to. 

The  Owl,  a  Literary  Monthly.    Chicago. 

1874-75.    4to. 

1  be 


William  jfrefcericfc  ipoole,     31 

The  Ordinance  of  1787,  and  Dr.  Manasseh 
Cutler,  as  an  Agent  in  its  Formation. 
North  American  Review  for  April,  1876. 
Vol.  122,  pp.  229-265. 

The  Same,  Privately  Printed.  Cambridge, 
1876.  8vo.  38  pp. 

Witchcraft  in  Boston.  In  Winsor's  Mem- 
orial History  of  Boston,  1881.  Vol.  2, 
pp.  131-172. 

The  West;  from  the  Treaty  of  Peace  with 
France,  1763,  to  the  Treaty  of  Peace 
with  England,  1783.  In  Winsor's  Nar- 
rative and  Critical  History  of  America. 
Vol.  6,  pp.  685-743. 

The  Early  Northwest ;  The  President's 
Address,  Dec.  26,  1888.  Papers  of  the 
American  Historical  Association,  Vol.  3, 
pp.  275-300. 

The  Same,  Privately  Printed,  New  York, 
1889.  8vo.  26  pp. 

Roosevelt's  The  Winning  of  the  West. 
Atlantic  Monthly,  Nov.  1889.  Vol.  44, 
pp.  693-700. 

The  Ordinance  of  1787 ;  a  Reply.  The  In- 
lander (Ann  Arbor),  Jan.,  1892,  pp. 
169-181. 

The  Same,  Privately  Printed,  Ann  Arbor, 
1892.  15  pp. 

Columbus  and  the  Finding  of  the  New 
World.  Northwestern  Christian  Advo- 
cate, Oct.  19,  1892. 

The 


32          publications  of 

The    Same,   Privately    Printed,   Chicago, 

1892.     i2mo. 
The  Dial,  Chicago: 

Vol.  I,  1881-82.  Hildreth's  History  of 
the  United  States,  p.  i;  Dexter's  His- 
tory of  Congregationalism,  p.  69; 
Winsor's  Memorial  History  of  Bos- 
ton, p.  152;  Father  Hennepin,  p.  253. 

Vol.  II,  1881-82.  Lodge's  History  of  the 
English  Colonies  in  America,  p.  32; 
The  Yorktown  Campaign,  1781,  p.  in; 
Lossing's  Popular  Cyclopedia  of 
United  States  History,  p.  209;  Gen- 
eral Arthur  St.  Clair,  pp.  227  251. 

Vol.  Ill,  1882-83.  General  Arthur  St. 
Clair  and  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  p.  13; 
Doyle's  English  Colonies  in  America, 
p.  221;  McMaster's  History  of  the 
United  States,  Vol.  I,  p.  271. 

Vol.  IV,  1883-4.  Tne  Quaker  Invasion  of 
Massachusetts,  p.  32;  German  Mercen- 
aries in  the  Revolutionary  War,  p.  305. 

Vol.  V,  1884-85.  Discoveries  of  Amer- 
ica; The  Lost  Atlantic  Theory,  p.  97; 
Thomas  Hutchinson,  p.  54;  Arnold's 
Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  261;  The 
Pocahontas  Story,  p.  318. 

Vol.    VI,    1885-86.       Hosmer's    Samuel 
Adams,  p.  65;  McMaster's  History  of 
the   United   States,   Vol.    II,   p.    no; 
Winsor's  Narrative  and  Critical  His 
tory  of  America,  p.  317. 

Vol. 


William  jfrefcericfc  jpoole.   33 

The  Dial,  Chicago,  Continued. 

Vol.  VII,  1886-87.  Thomas  Hutchinson, 
p.  102;  Preston's  Documents  Illustra- 
tive of  American  History,  p.  155; 
Adam's  Emancipation  of  Massachu- 
setts, p.  263. 

Vol.  VIII,  1887-88.  The  Sessions  of  the 
Western  Lands,  p.  285;  Winsor's 
Narrative  and  Critical  History  of 
America,  p.  337. 

Vol.  IX,  1888-89.  Winsor's  Narrative 
and  Critical  History  of  America, 
p.  127;  Hosmer's  Sir  Henry  Vane, 

p.  317- 

Vol.  XI,  1890-91.  The  Persistence  of 
Historic  Myths,  p.  43;  Economic  and 
Social  History  of  New  England,  p.  279. 

Vol.  XII,  1891-92.  John  Dickinson, 
p.  71;  Winsor's  Christopher  Colum- 
bus, p.  421. 

Vol.  XIII.  1892.     Patrick  Henry,  p.  41. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Chicago  Tribune: 

J.  E.  Cook's  History  of  Virginia.    Sept. 

22,  1883. 

Geo.   Bancroft's  Tenth  Volume  of  His- 
tory of  the  United  States,  December 
18,   1874.      (Reprinted    Boston  Tran- 
script, July  i,  1875.) 
Yale  in  1700,  Jan.  10.  1875. 

Palfrey's 


34   William  ffre&erfcfe  poole. 

Chicago  Tribune,  Continued. 

Palfrey's  New  England,  4th  vol.,  March 

25,  1876. 
Sam  Peters  and  His  Blue  Laws,  Dec. 

22,  1877. 

Samuel  Sewell's  Diary,  Nov.  8,  1879. 
Fraudulent  Mather  Letter  on  "Bagging 
Penn,"  May  23,  1870;   June  u,    1870; 
Aug.  10,  1878;  Aug.  17,  1878;   Dec.  9, 
1878. 
Chicago  Times: 

Early  American  Books,  May  12,  1876 
Yale  in  Literature,  Jan.  6,  1878. 
Chicago  Evening  Post: 

Fraudulent  Mather  Letter,  May  26,  1891; 

Jan.  13,  1892. 
Chicago  Evening  Journal: 

Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  June  17,  1876. 
Bayard  Family,  July  8,  1880. 
Salem  Register: 

Nathaniel  Mather,  Sept.  12,  1870. 


Note. —  For  a  condensed  history  of  Dr. 
Poole,  see  the  sketch  of  him  in  Appleton's 
New  Cyclopedia  of  American  History,  by 
Mr.  Daniel  Goodwin. 


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